458 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



THE FALCON'S FIST 



Drawing by Louis Aga^siz Fuertes 



Falcons kill their prey in full flight, hy a terrific blow with the half-closed foot, returning 

 after the strike to pick up the victim (see Color Plate II). 



it is a pity it cannot be more profitably 

 used. 



TRAIN IXC. THE SHORT-WINGED HAWKS 



Thus far nothing lias been said of the 

 training and hunting of the two short- 

 winged hawks, the goshawk and the spar- 

 rowhawk. 



Just as the falcons, with their long, 

 narrow wings and compact bodies, are 

 adapted to the chase in the open, with 

 wide maneuvers and great stoops through 

 unbroken space, so these rangy, slim- 

 legged birds, with their short, "broad- 

 lingered" wings and long, sweeping train. 

 are beautifully adapted to work in the 

 tangles and forests, where they naturally 

 live. 



These bird'- seldom come out into open 

 country unless there is some tempting 

 poultry yard or game preserve where a 

 quick sally is assured of its reward. 

 \\ hen such a larder is discovered, how- 

 ever, little peace comes to the owner until 

 the marauder has been brought to earth. 

 for it will take its daily toll until the yard 

 or cover is depleted. 



Goshawks and horned owls are gener- 

 ally to be feared in cold winters on all 



extensive game covers in this country, 

 and they make sad havoc with the work 

 of years when once they infest such a 

 place I see text, page 461). 



The goshawk is a very different crea- 

 ture from the falcon, and by its nature 

 and style of hunting is fitted for entirely 

 different work ; for the goshawk does not 

 strike its prey in air and return to it after 

 the turn, but pursues it and binds to it at 

 once, whether in air or, as it prefers, on 

 the ground. These hawks have a curious 

 habit, too, of covering their quarry with 

 their outstretched wings and tail until it 

 ceases to struggle. 



THE GOSHAWK'S FEET ARE ENGINES OF 



DEATH 



The feet of the goshawk are veritable 

 engines of death, with enormous talons 

 and great strength. Whereas a falcon's 

 f( iot is more like a fist to deliver a terri- 

 ble blow, the short-wing's feet are like 

 great ice-tongs with semicircular claws 

 nearly an inch long, which enter the very 

 vitals of the quarry and kill as tough a 

 creature as a rat or a hare in a few sec- 

 onds and take the life of any bird almost 

 instantly (see drawings on this and the 

 1 tpposite page). 



